The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-02-23
Lively Scenes in the Lobbiss and Corridors Of
the National Capitol.
Notwithstanding the Pressure, the Pension Bill
Will Hardly Pass Over the Veto.
Ssumors About Manning's SuccessOr-Inter
state Commissioners Postal Clerks'
Orders-New. Congressman.
Special to the Sentinel.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21.-People having pri-
vate bills and statesmen with local measures
are Just ow in sweat and great hurry. At
the adjo urnment of every Congress all un-
finished business falls dead and the House
and Senate calendars are swept clean. The
next Congress opens up shop for itself. There
is only one advantage IN having had bill
before Congress. The committee to which it
goes will have had familiarity with the SUBJ
ject or the facts, and can more readily act.
This week will witness a great scramble to
get bills through. The pressure on the
Speaker, by the members for recognition,
viii be very great. Many perspiring states
man thinks, and perhaps truly, that his
hope of future political life depends upon his
little bill. With nearly 325 men all frantic
for some measures, with several appropria-
tiOns bills still to be completed, with confer
ence reports to be considered and reconciled
and bowling mob in the lobbies, the readers
of the Sentinel may readily conceive a rush
at a free lunch counter is a small and tame
spirited affair in comparison with the jam
and push of the last few days of Congress. 1t
is pretty certain that everything which does
not get through the House this week Will
fail, as the Senate calendar is crowded like
that of the House, and all that can be done
is to put the finishing touches on what is be-
fore them.
In this connection view of the House
lobby is interesting. From the hours OF
q swaIming, busy crowd in which ladies are
quite prominent. But this week will wit
ness large Increase in the restless, anxious,
nervous habitues of the lobby. There are
five entries to the House where from three
to five messengers are kept busy carrying in
cards to the members Any day you will
see crowds of people gathered at the doors,
nearly all of whom wear a look OF longing
desire for something, or anxious fear of fail
ure. The ladies waiting room at the east
door is full of females of all ages, from very
blooming womanhood up to wrinkled old
age. Most of the female habitues are well
dressed, many are stylish, and some are
charming. 1t being public place, the as
semblage is not select, and rumor says the
object of the meetings are not always pub
lishable. But as the ladies waiting room
is common carrier, like street cars,
these things can not be helped. But
in the corridors you will see groups of people
waiting for the august statesman to come
out, and here and there are members stand
ing listening to the tale of his constituent,
sometimes unwillingly, and ia fdgety man.
ner making an effort to get back to his seat.
But the importunate ofice-seeker fixes his
gaze on him and pours his tale into the
statesmsn's ears, who finds himself as tightly
bound as If locked in iron chains 1t is said
the Mary landers swarm the thickest in the
lobby. Whenever it rains the farmers are all
here, and the members from that State have
to take alum baths to hold themselves to-
gether after wrestling with their numerous
constituents. Virginia also being a neigh
boring State, sends lavish delegations to the
lobby, and the District of Columbia always
'at home," helps swell the crowd. And as
Representative Foran, of Ohio, expressed it
to the Sentinel correspondent. ''it will be
sort Of grab game as to what will get
through"
The Senate lobby is quite different. 1t is
never crowded. It is not the free aRJi easy
bristliDg concern that the House lobby is.
Cards are not received until D. m, (excep-
tions, of cOurse6 and they are mostly taken
at the northeast door. There is sort Of cold
exclusiveness about the Senate that is any
thing but democratic. Some OF the Ameri-
can lords even grunble il one of their abject
subjects should stand in front Of the entree.
Billy Malone, the Virginia midget, does not
even receive cards from the mUdsills. Yet
there are some very clever, eongenial and
polite Senators who get down of their Sena-
torial thrones and touch the common earth
with their No. 1G bcogans. Nothing illus
trates more forcibly the necessity Of unlver-
sal suffrage for the maintenance of popular
rights than the difference between the House
of Commons and the House of Lords.